His name is Keith Johnson and he has made a Muffin Car: a cupcake-shaped runabout, which conceals a tiny electric all-terrain vehicle complete with handlebars from a Hello Kitty bicycle. You could think of Keith as a lone eccentric, toiling away in his garage, fueled by butter cream, but you’d be wrong. He’s actually one of a dozen or so people who make and race muffin cars.

And they are not alone. In fact, there are thousands of people who are now making things again. Curious, new things, with a real sense of wonder to them. These modern day inventors — half hackers and half mad scientists — have not one but two mainstream magazines: Make and Craft, and even have their own gathering: Maker Faire, where this year, you could see, among the many exhibits, a 17 foot tall robotic giraffe, a life-sized version of the game Mouse Trap, and a live performance from those makers of Mentos mayhem, Messrs Grobe and Voltz, who sent jets of Diet Coke shooting high into the air on the faire’s final afternoon.

So why am I telling you about this? Because these are people on the fringe — and that’s where ideas come from. Poke around the fringes of society and you’ll find real excitement and a real indicator of the future. All of the stuff we take for granted today, like yoga, the green movement and yes, even blogs, were all started way off in the fringes, by a small but obsessed group of people who felt they had found something new and worth pursuing.

Want to think different thoughts, find something that delights, and bring truly new ideas to your work? Then spend some time around the edges, where people lurk, and you too will know the Muffin Man.

Steven Stark is a writer and creative director who doesn’t really care for muffins, but does love donuts, particularly in the workplace. You can see his work and read some of his other musings here.

Article Tags: copywriter | craft magazine | creative director | diet coke fountain | fringe | keith johnson | make magazine | maker faire | muffin car | Steven Stark | think different
Filed under: Emerging Tech, Marketing Religion, Marketing Resources, New Discoveries, Social Media Marketing, Steven Stark